Entering into the crazy world of dog mushing!

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Laughing thru a BLOODBATH!

The other day, my daughter and I stopped out to the barn to feed the sled-dogs; no time for playing, just feeding – which we’ve become extremely proficient at. My daughter grabbed bowls and began filling them with kibble as I got the meat bucket out of the fridge. A cup of kibble, a scoop of raw meat, topped with water – It should have been a smooth ten minute in-and-out feeding. Only, it didn’t turn out to be…smooth. Why I wore white pants with a white matching visor remains a mystery so please don’t ask. Maybe I’m subconsciously refusing to succumb to farm life – or at least look like I am. Regardless, there I was, carrying a half-full 5 gallon bucket of thawed meat soaking in blood – dressed in white. When I raised the bucket up to the table to fill the bowls… you guessed it – it slipped out of my hands. The bucket hit the floor and ALL of the juices roared up like a tsunami! I took a direct hit. Head-to-toe, smattered in blood. Chloe stood right in front of me in shock as I looked back at her in horror. Later, she said she wanted to laugh immediately but didn’t know if I was going to cry. But, I didn’t cry (yet) – instead, looking and feeling like a crime scene with my daughter’s huge eyes starring at me – I burst out laughing. While I ran around looking for anything to wipe my face off with, Chloe laughed harder and harder. At my expense, it was a really funny moment we shared and I learned a lesson in choice. I could have chosen to be mad but in that moment, I chose to laugh instead. And it was good! After that, as I was home cleaning myself up, I thought about my late grandma. She had spent a great deal of her time trying to teach me how to cook and she’d always thought it was so funny that I was intensely grossed out by raw, bloody meat. From her vantage point in heaven, she must have gotten the biggest laugh of all! So, in that moment, thinking about my grandma, I chose to lift my face to heaven and laugh with her – crying at the same time. And it too was good. Laughter is truly the best medicine – especially if you’re going to be a musher in white!

On kind-of an ironic side note, I ordered a new mushing jacket this year… and it’s white! Hike!